


Homecoming Isn't Always Sweet, But Coffee Is

by ChasetheSun2



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dave is 13, Gen, Gift Fic, Gratuitous coffee making, Pretty sure that's the right ages, References to Addiction, Rose is 27, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChasetheSun2/pseuds/ChasetheSun2
Summary: Mother made her drive halfway across the country to babysit, she was sure as hell stealing the creamer.





	Homecoming Isn't Always Sweet, But Coffee Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [perceptivefics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perceptivefics/gifts).



> A commission based on Percy's [Missed Messages](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10819194).

“Where's Mom?”

The sleep-thick voice of Rose's younger brother Dave pulled her from her focus on the laptop in front of her. She turned her head to look at the chubby thirteen-year-old currently wearing nothing but pyjama bottoms and bunny slippers. His hair was tousled from sleep and he ran a hand through it, only serving to make the situation worse.

“You're up late.” She said, deftly avoiding the subject of their mother and her current whereabouts. Rose had let herself in late last night after having traveled almost four hours to get back to her old hometown. She looked exhausted, but the coffee on the endtable beside her seemed to be doing a good enough job of keeping her awake and alert enough to keep writing.

It was not, however, doing a good job of keeping her at a sane enough level to handle Dave's rambling and pushing. Bless her brother, he didn't know when to shut up.

“You're just up early.” He said, shuffling past her and towards the kitchen. “It's ten in the morning. Now come on, spill it. Mom up and skipped town for another contract, didn't she? She's been gone like a week now and she left her cards here, but no note. It's weird. She always leaves a note. How long is she gonna be gone this time?”

The sound of pouring cereal cut off Dave's words. Rose chided herself for feeling a little relieved. Staring at a bright screen for most of the night was giving her a killer headache, but she knew if she dimmed it, trying to squint at her font in the dark would have only made things that much worse. “Make me a bowl, too,” She called out to Dave.

“Sure thing.” From the sounds of it he'd anticipated that she'd want food. He likely figured out that she hadn't slept yet, because when she reached for her coffee mug, it was gone. The smell of Mother's special blend percolating in the kitchen wafted past Rose's nose.

Dave shuffled out of the kitchen with two bowls of French Toast Crunch – Rose's childhood favorite, not that she'd ever admit it to anyone. Seemed either Dave took after her, or he'd anticipated her visit. She put her laptop aside and took the bowl with a grateful 'thank you'. Normally she'd make a point of eating in the dining room, but she was just too tired to move.

“You still didn't answer my question.” Dave spoke thickly through a mouthful of sugary cereal. Rose's shoulders slumped and she sighed softly. Shit, she'd really been hoping to avoid this topic until after she'd gotten more than an hour's sleep and wasn't subsisting on pure caffeine and willpower.

“Yes, Mom's gone on another contract hunt with her agent. She's looking at a few different gigs so she'll be gone a few months.” She said smoothly. “She sent me a copy of the house keys so I could come watch over you while she's gone.”

If there was a look of doubt on Dave's face, it was gone by the time she looked over at him. “Figures.” He said, shrugging casually and taking another bite of his cereal. “It's just weird, normally she leaves a note with her cards but this time, nothing. Dirk hasn't even called yet – where is Dirk, by the way?”

“Likely doing some project or another, you know how he gets fixated on his work.” Rose took a mouthful of her own cereal. Dave picked up on her tense posture and raised a brow.

“So you have no clue in other words.”

“Not a one.” Rose admitted.

The coffee maker let out its signature 'ding' and Dave, breakfast finished, got up first to get it. “Great.” He said, an almost sulking tone to his voice. “You still like your coffee ridiculously sweet, right? Like, enough sugar to put Willy Wonka out of business level sweet?”

“I put Mr. Wonka out of business a long time ago, if that's the analogy we're going for here,” She said, finishing off her own bowl and putting it aside. She was at that point after a sleepless morning where she was hitting a jittery sort of second wind; bags were forming under her eyes and she'd have to put on concealer if she wanted to go out at all today. Or she might just pass out right here on the couch, that plan worked just as well for her.

But then again, she reminded herself, she'd taken a cursory glance through the cupboards and groceries were severely needed at the moment.

Sleeping was for the weak anyway.

“Gotcha.” Dave gave a mock salute behind her back before vanishing into the kitchen again to make them both their daily dose of caffeine. Rose heard the vague sound of a phone being pulled from its hook, the sound of numbers being dialed. A concerned frown pulled at her lips. She knew that Dave would only be calling one of two people right now, given their previous conversation, and she knew that he wouldn't get through to either of them. Not at the moment, anyway.

As much as she wished he would, she was also grateful that he wasn't.

The phone hung up. Rose heard the telltale sounds of silver against ceramic as Dave made them both a mug of coffee, walking back into the living room and handing her her mug again. Now that he'd eaten and was slightly more awake he'd adapted his signature Strider gait, looking just relaxed enough in his stance to seem cool and stoic without passing off for lazy. It was a posture Rose had never been able to adopt herself, seeing as she had what Dirk liked to call “a sarcastic pole up her ass”.

“Thank you, again.” She said as she took a sip of the coffee. It tasted like caramel and pure sugar and even the sweetness against her tongue sent shocks through her body. She shivered. It was almost too sweet, but really, she liked it that way. “Is that Mother's caramel creamer?” She asked, in a tone that clearly said that what he'd done would _normally_ get him in trouble.

A hint of mischief glinted in Dave's eyes. Like most emotions Dave showed, one could only discern it from his typical poker face if they really knew Dave and his microexpressions. “I mean.” He said, giving a half-shrug. “What Mom don't know won't kill her, right?”

“Touche.” Rose reveled in the small rebellion. Mother made her drive halfway across the country to babysit, she was sure as hell stealing the creamer.

Not that she wasn't perfectly confident that Dave could take care of himself, but child abandonment was somewhere along the lines of illegal and besides, someone had to make sure that he spent his money on actual healthy food instead of soda and top ramen.

Speaking of which.

“Dave,” Rose turned to her brother, who looked up from the brim of his mug. “How would you feel about coming on a grocery trip with me today?”

There was only a moment of contemplation. He pursed his lips as he brought the coffee down from his face, tapping on the mug. “Can I get apple juice?” He asked.

Admittedly, that one took Rose aback. Seemed she'd been away from home too long; this new development was interesting to say the least. “I don't see a problem with that,” She said, slowly, as if trying to feel out whether he was pulling her leg.

“Sweet.” Apparently not. Rose shook her head, passing it off as some odd teenaged habit of his.

“Yes, well. Going to the grocery store in pyjamas and no shirt, I believe, is illegal in some states. I'd suggest you grab some actual clothes while I shower away the smell of road trip.” Rose drained her coffee in one go. Really she hated doing anything less than savoring it, but she needed the boost right now and she knew she wouldn't have much time to sit around with exhaustion creeping up behind her.

Dave whistled. “Drove that far, did you?” He asked, tilting his head. His hair fell into his eyes; Rose reminded herself to give him a haircut at the first chance she got.

“Actually, it was more like I flew, then borrowed Mother's car, then drove.” She said. “It's only bad because Texas is a horrible hellish place too hot for human existence.”

“You'll get used to it.” Dave down the rest of his coffee as well and took her mug, heading off towards the kitchen again.

“Unfortunately.” Rose stood as well and grabbed her luggage. “Would you mind taking care of the dishes while I shower, or is Mother's water pressure still not fixed?”

“Mom got that fixed years ago.” Okay, the look Dave was giving her as if she had ten heads was warranted. “You go shower, don't worry about it.”

She bit her lip and nodded, heading up the stairs and towards the bathroom.

It'd been, what, three years since she'd been here? And nothing had changed in the upscale two-story house. It was an old Colonial,  beautifully decorated with tasteful art; mainly of cats and old, wizardly-looking men. Rose wouldn't lie, that much she definitely appreciated about the place. Perhaps it had even inspired a few of her novels in a subtle, roundabout way.

Up the stairs, to the left, flick on the light. The soft glow lit up the bathroom that looked like it hadn't changed in years. No – that was wrong. That's definitely a new shower curtain. The fluffy pink bathmat and toilet cover were still the exact same, though – she could see the stain where she'd spilled hair bleach on it by accident as a rebellious teen.

Rose could hear Dave humming to himself as he turned on the water downstairs. Okay, time to put the water pressure to the test.

Thankfully it worked like a charm. If it hadn't Rose would have been in for a very icy surprise considering how hot she liked her showers.

Twenty minutes of blank staring and going through the regular motions later and Rose was feeling a whole lot more awake and much less scuzzy than when she'd stepped in the shower. She was quick to dress, not bothering to dry her hair, just giving it a quick rub-over with her towel and raking a hand through it to pull it away from her face.

She made her way downstairs and frowned slightly as she heard Dave talking.

“...Yeah, no, I get it.” _Uh oh._ Dave didn't sound too pleased. “Yeah. No, it's fine, bro. She's here, it's – you don't have to. I get it. It's cool.”

Whatever it was, was most definitely not cool, if dave was breaking his normally deadpan tone to express his displeasure. Rose entered the kitchen just as Dave said his goodbyes to Dirk, hanging up the phone. Dave was leaning against the wall and trying not to scowl, his arms folded and his shoulders tense.

Double uh oh.

“I assume you got your answer as to where Dirk is, then?” Rose asked.

“Tacoma.” Dave still sounded sullen. “Writing up some program or another for a rich client. Says he can't pull away from it until it's done, the money's too good.”

Sympathy pulled at the edges of Rose's lips and she frowned, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. He moved away from her touch and she sighed.

“I'm certain he'll be back to visit before you know it,” She said, trying to sound soothing. “It's not as if his programs take months to code--”

“Why didn't you tell me Mom was in rehab?”

Dave's question took her aback. _Damn it, Dirk._ If her older brother were here she'd break her normally cool facade and punch him.  She licked her lips, avoiding his eyes  for a moment as she tried to formulate a valid answer for him. One that didn't seem like she was treating him like a child and more like she was trying to protect him.

That was very hard to do, considering that protecting him was, in a way, treating him like a child.

“....I wanted to bring it up slowly.” She said finally. Dave's frown and the way his brow furrowed over his shades told her that she needed to elaborate. “Dave, I know you're mature enough to be able to handle the news that Mother's gone to seek help but it would have done you no good to just blurt it out insensitively.”

“Bro said you'd say that.” Dave grumbled, but the answer seemed to have placated him. “It's just – no note? Nothing? She just....left. And then you don't even--”

“ _Oh.”_ Rose's face fell when she realised just how Dave would have taken that. How she would have taken it, if she were in his shoes. It was less about protection from his point of view and more about keeping secrets from him. “Dave, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it to be like that, honestly. I just didn't want to jar you emotionally with the news.”

Dave stayed quiet.

“I was going to tell you. I swear. And I'm going to be giving Dirk a very firm lecture about blurting out the truth too soon.”

There was that tiny smirk, just barely ghosting over one corner of Dave's lips. Rose smiled faintly, relieved. Seemed she was still just as good at consoling Dave as ever.

“I will personally hand over ten bucks if you manage to get Dirk to come home out of pure guilt alone.” Dave said. Rose chuckled and held out a hand for him to shake on it.

“Deal.”


End file.
